Large-panel monitors are all the rage these days, but not everyone has the need (or the room) for a monitor that offers a big-screen experience. The Lenovo ThinkVision LT2013p is a relatively small, 19.5-inch desktop monitor. It's equipped with a handful of business-friendly features, including a USB hub, a variety of video ports, and a flexible ergonomic stand. It handled our grayscale performance test with aplomb and doesn't require much power, but its TN (twisted nematic) panel gets dark when viewed from an angle and its color accuracy is a little off.

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Design and Features
The LT2013p looks just like its slightly bigger sibling, the Lenovo LT2223p. Both share the same business black cabinet design that compliments the rest of the Lenovo ThinkVision product line, and both feature a round stand that provides a multitude of ergonomic adjustments including tilt, swivel, height, and pivot maneuverability. It doesn't offer auto-rotation, however, which means you'll have change the image orientation via your graphics control panel whenever you pivot the panel.

The panel has a maximum resolution of 1,600-by-900 and a matte anti-glare coating that is non-reflective. The cabinet isn't particularly thin (2.25 inches), but it can be detached from its stand and hung on a wall using an optional VESA mounting kit. The lower bezel contains four function buttons and a power switch, all of which are clearly labeled. The left side of the cabinet holds three conveniently placed USB ports and a fourth port is located at the rear of the cabinet. All of the USB ports use USB 2.0 technology rather than the speedier USB 3.0 technology found on more expensive models such as the Asus PA249Q. Also around back is a generous array of video inputs including HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA ports. There's also an upstream USB port and an audio output for use with an external set of speakers (the LT2013p does not have built-in speakers).

You don't get many picture settings with this model; you can adjust brightness, contrast, and dynamic contrast ratio, and there are four preset color temperature settings (neutral, sRGB, reddish, bluish) and a custom setting with RGB saturation levels. Scaling (aspect ratio) and Auto-adjust settings are also available.

Lenovo covers the LT2013p with a three-year parts, labor, and backlight warranty. Included in the box are VGA, USB, and DisplayPort cables, a setup poster, and a resource CD containing drivers and a User's Guide.

Performance
The LT2013p uses TN (twisted nematic) panel technology to deliver a bright picture without using much power. It averaged around 13 watts of power during testing, which is exactly what the LT2223p used. It is also EPEAT Gold and Energy Star certified.

We use a colorimeter, DisplayMate software, and SpectraCal's CalMan 5 diagnostic software to measure color accuracy. In the chart below, each box represents the ideal coordinates for red, green, and blue colors, and the colored dots represent our measured values. Red and blue color accuracy was generally good but greens were a bit oversaturated. This is a fairly common trait in low cost TN panels and in this case does not translate to skewed colors or tinting. That said, if color accuracy is key then you should be looking at a professional grade monitor such as the Asus PA249Q.

Grayscale performance was quite good for a TN panel. The LT2013p had no trouble displaying every shade from the DisplayMate 64-Step Grayscale test, although the gradation was not as clearly defined as what you'll see from a high-end IPS panel. Small text performance was also impressive; small fonts set 5.3 points were legible and well defined.

As is usually the case with TN monitors the LT2013p's viewing angle were less than ideal. The view from the side (horizontally) was decent with only a minor loss of color fidelity as you move closer to 90 degrees from center on either side. However, vertical angles resulted in a darkened screen and skewed colors which become much more apparent when you pivot the panel for portrait mode viewing.

The Lenovo ThinkVision LT2013p is a feature-rich business display for users who don't require a big-screen monitor and need to maximize their desktop space. Its ergonomic stand offers a wide variety of panel positions for maximum viewing comfort and its four-port USB hub makes it easy to plug and unplug peripherals without having to run cables to your PC. Green colors tend to run a little hot and viewing angle performance was typical for a TN panel, but the LT2013p's grayscale performance was surprisingly good. That said, the NEC MultiSync EA244WMi remains our Editors' Choice for business monitors thanks to its all-around superior performance.

As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's...

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